Vending machine



March 11, 1930. G. H. MATCHEIT I VENDING CHINE F iled Sept. 5. 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 1 March 11, 1930. G. H. MATCHETT vrmnme momma Filed Sept. 5. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 11, 1930. G, HMA CHE T 1,749,773

VENDING MACHINE Fil ed Sept. 5. 1925 5 SheetsSheet 3 G. H. MATCHETT :March 11, 1930.

VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 25L In I I NVENTOR.

March 11, 1930. s. H. MATCHETT 1,749,773

VENDING MACHINE Fi led Sept. 5, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented 11, 1930 enema n. n'rcm'r, or cmwmma, omo

' vmme momma Application and September a, 1m. sen-1 i... seem.

This invention j relates to machines for vendingarticles such as newspapers, magazines, etc., and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved type'of feeding I mechanism for the articles whichwill be reliable in operation and adapted to properly separate the articles so as to deliver them one at-a time. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved coin-receiving mechanism especially adapted for use in con-. mechanism and nection with the feedin which will so control the atter as to prevent operation without using the proper com or coins.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention, the same constituting an improvement in the apparatus and described in my rior applicatlon Serial No. 365,583, filed arch 13, 1920.

In the drawings; a

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1-, with the upper part of the casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevation with a rtion of the casing broken away;

g. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 6is an enlarged elevation of the coin.

mechanism in the ceives the coins;

Fig. 7 is a fragment of Fig. 6with the coin-wheel partially rotated to illustrate the manner of effecting the release of the lockposition in which it reing dog;

Fig. 8 is a detail section on the line 8-8 of Fig-.6; .9 is a section on the line 9--9 of Fig. 7;

-Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view similar to 'Fig. 6, but showing-the manner in which the mechanism is unlocked by a single coin; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing, the coin-wheel rotated, to the posi tion for discharging the coins I i Fig. 12 is aside elevation of the device for su porting the sheets of paper on edge; and,

ig. 13 is an edge view thereof.

Referrin to the drawings, indicates a I casing pre erably made of sheet metal with the different parts secured together in a substantial manner so as to protect the interior mechanism from being tampered with. At the top of the casing 20, there is a door 21 that is hinged to the casing at 22 and adapted to be secured in closed position by means of the hasp 23 and padlock24. In the u per part of,the front wallof the casing t are are windows 25 for displaying the newspaper or other article that is to be vended, these windows being glazed for the purpose of protecting the interior mechanism. In the lower part of the front wall of the casing,

there is a discharge opening 26 through which the newspapers or other articles are delivered, the bottom wall'of this opening being preferably formed with a led 27 .in order to raise the front edge of t e article and permit it to be readily grasped andwithdrawn. From the ledge there is an upwardly curved wall 28 which acts as a chute to guide the articles to the opening 26, the upper edge of the wall 28 being supported on the upright wall 29, behind which there is locate a receptacle 30 for receivin the coins that are used to operate the mac ine.

Frame members 31 and 32 are secured within the casing 20, adjacent the end walls thereof andthe'mechanism is supported on these frame members. A horizontally arranged shaft 33 has its ends sup rted in the frame members 31 and 32 an carries the feedwheels 34. A driving gear 35 is secured on the shaft 33 and meshes with a pinion 36 that is mounted on a stub shaft 37 carried by the frame member 32. From Fig. 2, it

may be noted that the frame member 32 is spaced a short distance from the end wall 38 of the casin to provide a compartment for the coin mec anism to be hereinafter described.

Above the shaft 33 there is a shaft 39 which carries the wheels 40, the latter being ar- I ranged between the wheels 34, as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft 39 is mounted in bearings in the frame members 31 and 32 and carries a gear 41 which meshes with the pinion 36.

On account of the gear 41 being much smaller than the car 35, the shaft 39 will be roin slots..45 'in'the frame members 31 and wheels 34 to 32. Secured on the bar 42 are the brackets 46v which carry pivots'47 and arms 48 are mounted on these pivots. The lower ends of the arms 48 carry a shaft 49 on which there are feed rollers 50 cooperating with the feedwheels 34, as bestseen in Fig. 4. The shaft 49 also'carriesa pinion 51 which meshes with the gea'r35.)

' An inclined platform 52 has 'arms 53 at its ends which arevmounted on the pivots 54 on' the frame members 31 and 32.v Below the forward edge of the platform 52 is an inclined'plate '55 which is secured ,to the upwardly projectin Secured to the ar 42 are upwardly projecting arms 56, and springs 57, anchored at one end to'the front wall of the casing, as shown at 158, have threaded ends 59 extending through thearms 56 and adjustable therein by means of nuts 60- andi 6l', tovary the tension of the springs.-

The mechanism so far described operates as follows: 1 7

The newspapers or other articles to be vended are arranged on edge as shown. at A in Fig. 4 and rest on the platform 52v and the plate 55, the forward edge 62- .of the latter being normally held close to the feedreventinore than one article from entering etween the feed-wheels 34 and the roller'50. The gear .36 meshes with av ear 63 and the latter is rotated by.

driving means 0% a crank 64, on the exterior of the casing. The details of the mechanism for connecting the crank 64 and the gear 63 will be hereinafter described. The rotation of the gear 63 effects therota'tion of the pinion 36 and the latter, being meshed with the gears and 41, rotates'the' shafts 33 and 39. On account of the relative sizes of the gears 35 and 41, the wheels will be rotated faster than the wheels 34 and since the forward newspaper is pressed against the wheels 40, the latter will tend to give it a quick impulse whioh will feed it downwardly between the feed-wheels 34 and the rollers 50. springs 57 serve to draw the roller toward the feed-wheels 34 so that the papers are gripped and fed downwardly thereby; As the paper enters between the roller ,and the feedwheels 34, the arms 48;.areffrocked on their pivots 47 to carry the forward edge 'of-the plate toward the feed-wheels 34and thus retain the papers that are immediately be% hind the. one that is being discharged. The

springs 57 also permit the roller 50 to move portions of the arms 48.

The

away from the feed-wheels 34 to whatever extent is necessary in order to permit the passage of the newspaper or other article that is eing vended.

In order to support the papers in the lip-- to hold it against the stack of papers and also to move it forward therewith.

When it is desired to replenish the supply of newspapers, on the platform 52, the door 21 is opened and the follow-plate 65 is thereby automatically withdrawn to the folded position, shown in Fig. 13, by the chains or other suitable connections 69 which are attached to the door at the point 70 and to the followplate at the point 71. When the door 21 is closed, the follow-plate 65 is permitted to move forward against the papers and thus support them.

The gear 63 is loosely mounted on the shaft 72, to which the crank 64 is attached, and there is secured to the shaft 72 a ratchet wheel 73, which is arranged along-side of the gear 63. A dog 74, carried by the latter, is arranged to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 73 to cause the latter to rotate with the shaft 72. A s ring 75 is also carried by the gear 63 and olds the dog'74'against the ratchet wheel 73 (see Fig. 5). A coin-wheel 76 is secured on the shaft 72 and has a series of peripheral ratchet teeth 77 which cooperate with a dog 78 that is mounted on the pivot 79 on the framemember 32, the dog 78 preventing rotation of the coin-wheel in the counter-clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 6. The coin-wheel 76 is also provided with a peripheral recess 80 forming an abutment 81 which cooperates with the tooth 82 on the I pawl 83 that is mounted on the pivot 84 on the frame member 32. A,spring 85 that is anchored on a pin 86 on the frame member 32, and is held against the pawl 83 by'the pin 87, resses the pawl toward the coin-wheel so that the engagement of the abutment 81 with the tooth 82 will revent rotation of the.

coin-wheel, in the cloc ise direction, except for the limited extent indicated in Fig. 6. The coin-wheel 76 is provided with a coinreceiving slot 88 which, when the mechanism is at rest is vertically arranged, as shown in Fig. 6. At one side of the 'slot 88 the coinwheel has a rib 89 whichfis traversed by a series of spaced slots 90 ada ted. to receive stop membersfor the coins. ne of said stop members. is-inditzated at 91 and is secured in position by ascrew 92, which is attached thereto and'movable with the member, 91, transverselyof the rib 89, in a slot 93, the arrangement being such that when the screw 92 is at one end of the slot 93, the stop member 91 will be adapted to intercept a coin of one denomination and when in engagement with the other end of the slot 93, will be the end wall 38 of the casing, as shown at 94,

and provided with a slot 95 which is normally in alignment with the slot 88 so that when coins are inserted in the receiver 94, they will drop into the slot 88. The stop member 91 is so positioned that when three one-cent coins are in the slot 88, they assume substantially the position shown in Fig. 6 and when the coin-wheel 76 is rotated in the clockwise direction, by means of the crank 64 (referring to Fig. 6), the uppermost coin 96 will engage the upper end of the pawl 83 and move the latter away from the coin-wheel so that the abutment 81 will clear the tooth 82 and permit a complete rotation of the coin-wheel. A complete rotation of the coin-wheel actuates the delivery mechanism to deliver a newspaper or other article which the machine is designed to vend. The purpose of permitting the limited rotation of the coin-wheel, which is afforded by having the abutment 81 normally spaced from the tooth 82, as shown in Fig. 6, is to provide for sufficient rotation to enable the coin 96 to actuate the pawl 83 and when there are no coins in the slot 88, the coin-wheel maybe oscillated to this extent without affecting the delivery mechanism, the

teeth of the ratchet wheel 73 being spaced apart sufiiciently to permit this limited rotation without engaging the dog 74 and rotating the gear 63.

It will be noted that the rib 89, adjacent the coin 96, is recessed, as indicated-at 97 so that when the coin 96 engages with the awl 83, it is moved into the recess 97 and the abutment 98 prevents the coin from being rolled out of the slot 88 due to its frictional engagement with the pawl 83.

At 99, I have indicated another stop member for the coins, this sto member carrying a screw 100 that is slida le in the slot 101. When the member 99 is in the position shown in Fig. 6, it will permit coins of the size of a cent, or smaller, to ass but it will intercept a nickel and hold it in position to actuate the pawl 83 when the coin-wheel is rotated. When the member 99 is moved to the right,

from-the position shown in Fig, 6, so that the screw 100 engages the opposite end of the slot 101, the member 99 will then intercept a cent or a nickel so that the mechanism may be actuated by one of either of these coins. To permit access to the screws 92 and 100,

openings 102 are provided in "the frame member 32, opposite these screws, these openings permitting the insertion of a screw driver by which the screws may be tightened or loosened.

\Vhen the coin-wheel, in its rotation, reaches the position shown in Fi 11, the coins will roll out of the slot 88, ue to the action of gravity thereon, and fall into the coin receptacle 30.

In Fig. 10, I have illustrated the manner in which a coin of the size of a nickel, which is indicated at 103, is intercepted by the stop member 99 so that the pawl 83 will be actuated thereby. From Fig. 3, it will be noted that the handle 64 is so positioned that it acts as a counterweight for the coin-wheel, to re turn it to the position shown in Fig. 6, after it has been rotated through the limitedextent afforded by the space between the abutment 81 and the tooth 82 so that when there are no coins in the slot 88, the coin-wheel will be automatically restored to the position shown in Fig. 6 when the handle 64 is released, thereby insuring that the coin slot 88 will normally remain 1n position to receive the coins from the member 94.

The platform 52 carries an arm 104 having a hook 105 on its upper end which cooperates with'the cam 106, on the shaft 72 to vibrate the platform each time that the mechanism is operated to deliver an article, such vibration o the platform 52 serving to separate-the articles, one from the other, in order to facilitate the delivery thereof in succession.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an inclined platform for supporting sheets or the like on edge, means for maintaining the sheets in upright position, extrusion means adjacent the lower edge I of said platform for withdrawing sheets therefrom in succession, and means operativel associated with said extension means for vi rating said platform.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pivotally mounted platform for sup orting sheets or the like on. edge, means or maintaining the sheets in upright position, extrusion means for withdrawing sheets therefrom in succession, and means operatively associated with said extrusion means for vibrating said platform.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an inclined movable platform for supporting sheets or the like on edge, rotary means for withdrawing sheets therefrom in succession,means for operating said rotary means, and a cam associated with the second-mentioned means for vibrating said platform.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an inclined pivotally supported platform for supporting sheets or the like on edge, rotary means for withdrawing sheets therefrom, a crank shaft and means operatively. connecting it with said rotary means 'for operating the latter, a cam on said crank shaft, and means on said platform c0- 5 f perating with said cam to vibrate the platv orm.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a latform adapted to su port the sheets to e fed, an extrusion 10 1'0 ler adjacent an edge of the platform, a.

retaining member mounted adjacent said extrusion roller, a movable member upon which the retaining member is mounted, and adjustable spring means for moving saidmem- 15 bertoward' sa d extrusion roller. In testimony whereof,- I hereunto afiix my signature.

GEORGE H. MATCHETT. 

